[stevehull]

In Europe they make some very efficient washers and dryers. But imported here to the USA boosts the price massively.

The "wag" in me suggests buying an inexpensive, domestically made unit. Yes, less efficient, but purchase price is a lot lower. And easy/cheap to repair. But this goes against my instinct to buy a quality unit that will last.

Have a friend that had a Fisher Paykell washer dryer (made in New Zealand). All the bells and whistles and very fancy and quite efficient. But the repair costs were astronomical and frequent! She finally let it die and bought a Maytag . . . .

Bosch also makes a very nice dryer, but $$

I like the idea above of using a solar thermal collector (one post above from NiHaoMike. Perhaps buy a dryer with a dead heating (burned out) resistance element, but with a drum, motor and other controls that works. Couple that with a hot air thermal collector.

Now you are cooking with gas (mixed metaphor)!!!


Steve